sermonette: The Lamb of God

Jesus Christ's Example
Mike Ford
Given 05-Apr-14; Sermon #1205s; 19 minutes

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If you would please be turning to first chapter of John, the book of John, the first chapter. And in chapter one of the Gospel of John we find John the Baptist preaching and baptizing. In the River Jordan. He has attracted a crowd. Including a group of priests and Levites in verse 19 who had traveled the 20 miles out from Jerusalem to question him. John tells his audience that he's been sent to prepare the way for the Lord, that's in verse 23. And that fulfills the prophecies of Isaiah chapter 40. Now John, as you probably know, was the first cousin of Jesus Christ. He was only 6 months older in physical time. I do not know how much contact they had growing up with one another. They, I'm sure had played together, probably worked together, seen each other at family get-togethers and holy days. You know how it was with you growing up with your first cousins. A lot of fun. But John had been called by God to go outside. The normal priestly duties and preach repentance. And a change of heart and of actions and then baptism. And then he was there also to smooth the path for the one to come. But John did not know who. That would be He certainly did not know it was his cousin. Now John was drawing huge crowds, and he was something of a celebrity in his day. But he knew all along that he would be eclipsed. Now in verses 32 and 34, John 1, and it's almost something that seems to me of an afterthought. He tells how God revealed Christ to him. Verse 32. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon him. I did not know him. Now he knew his cousin, but he did not know his cousin as Christ. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. Now the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke add a sentence. They also add, and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Now in the proper chronology of things, we do not need to turn there but in Matthew 3 and verse 14, in Matthew's account of Christ's baptism, John the Baptist protest to Christ that he shouldn't baptize Christ but rather it should be the other way around. Now this could lead you to think that John knew. Who he was speaking to. Then after the baptism, the Spirit of God descends upon Christ as we read in John, and the voice speaks from heaven. It might seem to be a contradiction here because we read in John 1:33 that John the Baptist said prior to the baptism, I did not know him. Now when Christ came to be baptized that day, if you read the context in all of the accounts, It shows that he was the last one of the day. There was an air of solemnity to the occasion. You can picture Christ stepping out from the crowd after everyone else had finished. And perhaps God inspires John the Baptist to To look twice at this man. Maybe he recognizes his cousin, maybe not. We do not know how many years had elapsed since they have seen each other, if any. But he's been expecting this moment. And there is something about this moment that leads him to believe it has arrived. Or possibly since he's known Christ. His entire life. He knows he's a man of character and maybe he protests that since he knows the character of Christ that he should baptize him instead. But I rather think that That God inspired John to see that there was something special about this particular man and this particular baptism, and of course it was then confirmed when Christ came out of the water and John saw the Holy Spirit descend upon him. Now, I give you this introduction to bring you to verse 29. When you compare John's account with the synoptic Gospels, it's obvious the baptism had taken place the day before and we read in verse 29, the next day, John the Baptist, John, meaning John the Baptist, saw Jesus coming toward him. And said, behold. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Now to this point, only John the Baptist knew what had happened the previous day. Only he had seen the spirit. of God descend upon Christ. Only he had understood the voice that Matthew, Mark, and Luke spoke of. Now some commentators feel that everyone present the day before heard the voice. But we read earlier in verse 32 that John bore witness saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove. If others had heard the voice, they did not comprehend it, otherwise John wouldn't have had to identify Christ to them the next day. So the first anyone knows other than John the Baptist. That Christ has arrived in physical form is when John says, behold. The Lamb of God. He did not say, look, the king, or over there it's the Messiah. He said Behold the Lamb of God. Now the next day John the Baptist is standing with two of his disciples. That would be Andrew and most likely John, the author of this book, and he says in verse 36, and looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, behold, The Lamb of God. It's interesting to me that the first indication anyone has. That the Son of God has come to earth. He's described as the Lamb of God, and not once but twice. Why? Was John thinking of the prophecies in Isaiah maybe? Isaiah 52, Isaiah 53. Prophecies of the coming of the Lord, His life, his death. We do not need to turn there, but in Isaiah 53:7 it says he was oppressed, speaking of the future Christ. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. Now did John say this because he knew Christ would die for the sins of the world? As the sacrificial lamb. Well, absolutely, most certainly, yes. Sermonettes in recent weeks given by Ronnie and Ted have gone into portions of, of, of Christ and His ministry, and I'm sure we are going to hear more as we go through the holy days. But doesn't this description Tell us something about Jesus Christ's overall attitude toward man. As our creator, a being so far above us that it's really, truly incomprehensible. He came as a lamb. Not as one having all power and all might, but he came as a sacrifice, and he never altered that approach. During his ministry on Earth, he always restrained himself. When he was cursed and reviled, he did not fight back. When he was painfully abused, he did not complain. He was silent as a lamb, as I read in Isaiah and as Ted Bowling expounded on so well just a few weeks ago. Now, in every action movie that I have ever seen. When the hero has been captured, and he will be captured. And when he's been tied up, and he will be tied up. He snarls at the bad guy. I'll kill you for this. Doesn't he? To which the bad guy inevitably laughs. And starts the slow torture of the hero. But the hero is never tied very well because the bad guy was never a Boy Scout. And he always gets loose and he kills the bad guy. The hero never submits. To torture and death because that would be a sign of weakness, would it not? How strong would you have to be if you could kill the bad guy at any moment you wished, but you had the ability to restrain yourself and not. Now the Bible describes Christ variously as A shepherd, a lion, a captain, a rock, a ruler, a judge. And there are dozens and dozens more. I read somewhere that there is over 200 different descriptions of Christ in the Bible. He is multifaceted. He has many layers. But the very first description of the physical Jesus. is as he begins his ministry is that of a lamb. And I want to concentrate on that. And because, and because he is our savior, our elder brother, our forerunner. We should seek to emulate him. So what are some of the attributes of a lamb? Or sheep in general. I know that John and Evelyn had some sheep when they were younger. I know the readers up in the high Rockies have a few sheep. But I have personally no experience with sheep. I doubt that many of you had much either. But in the context of the time in which Christ lived, And preached, most of his audience, if not all, had dealings and knowledge of sheep in small herds. Sheep raised nowadays in Israelitish countries would be mostly for their meat, and there would be large groups of these sheep. But in the days of Jesus, the family would have only a few, and they would be raised for their wool, and they'd be kept for many years. A family would know their sheep by their individual quirks. They'd probably have names for them. When John said, behold the Lamb of God, how many thoughts and what kind of thoughts would run through the minds of his audience of that time? Because they were familiar with sheep. Now a lamb, be it male or female, It is considered a lamb when it's less than 300 days old. A lamb is quiet and helpless, very sensitive. I read somewhere that when a lamb is struck, It feels it in every part of its body. Now I'm going to give you a list of some of the things that I found that are the traits of, of sheep. And a lamb will not have had time to become all these things I'm going to give you, but it will be predisposed to these things because after all, it is a sheep. Now, I got, I got these um These traits From several different sources and there is some overlap. But when I, I read you these, these 20 short points, I'm not going to expound on them at all because they are so stunningly applicable. To our spiritual lives. If you'll just keep in mind that, that, that these things are physical attributes of sheep, but apply them to our spiritual lives. And keep in mind that Christ is the Lamb of God, and we are his sheep. Now in some cases, these, these points Or maybe more for us as sheep than for Christ as a lamb and maybe even the metaphor gets a little muddied here, but I just hope to give you a, a feel for sheep. Number one, sheep are gregarious. They love to be with the herd. 2, sheep must have a leader and be told what to do and where to go, otherwise they wander off and get lost. Number 3, sheep are timid, fearful, easily panicked, slow to understand, foolish, gullible, very vulnerable to fear, frustration, pests, and hunger. Number 4, sheep are easily influenced by a leader, by the shepherd. Number 5, sheep stampede easily. They are vulnerable to mob psychology. Number 6, sheep have little or no means of self-defense. They can only run. Number 7, they are easily killed by enemies. Number 8, the shepherd is most effective as a calming influence. Number 9, sheep are jealous, competitive for dominance, and I have to interject here, sheep are jealous, competitive for dominance. They're sheep I mean if you were a lion and you wanted to be the king of the jungle, I, I can understand that or if you're a wolf and want to be leader of the pack, but OK, so you're the leader of, but you're a sheep. You know, I do not know, just sheep are jealous and competitive phenomenon, but you're a sheep. It just struck me as funny. Number 10, sheep constantly need fresh water and fresh pasture. Number 11 sheep have little discernment. In choosing food and water. 12 sheep are perverse, stubborn, and will insist on their own way. Number 13 sheep are easily cast. That means flipped over on their back, unable to right themselves, and they will die of starvation if not turned over by the shepherd. They are helpless. Number 14 sheep frequently look for easy places to rest. 15 sheep do not like to be sheared or cleaned. 16 sheep are creatures of habit and get into ruts. 17 sheep need the most care of all livestock. 18 sheep need to be on the move and need a predetermined plan and pattern of grazing. Number 19 sheep are totally dependent on the shepherd for every need. And number 20 sheep need rod and staff guidance. So did you see yourself anywhere on this list? I saw myself again and again. Do you see why Christ chose this symbol for himself? Other than that of a sacrifice, which of course is huge. He wanted us to see that he came gentle as a lamb, without guile, humble, and in need of God's protection and guidance. Now after going through these 20 points, Thinking of Christ as a lamb. You might be left with a little bit of dismay as to As to how our elder brother came to Earth, I know the Jews of his day certainly were surprised at his demeanor. They expected a conqueror, not a lamb. Well, in the book of Revelation, Christ is portrayed as a lamb over 2 dozen times, just in that one book alone. So let's go to a couple of verses here in Revelation 5, verses 5 and 6. So I just wanna pick up something here regarding this last point. Revelation 5:5. One of the elders said to me, Do not weep. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. And I looked and behold, in the midst of the throne of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain. And that's all I need to read there. Christ in these two short verses is called the lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of David. You know the reputation of a lion, and you know that David was a man of war. In no uncertain terms here, we see the capabilities of Christ as a king and a ruler, but in the very next verse, he's a lamb again. My point is that he is the all powerful. And he came willingly to Earth. As a lamb Gentle, submissive. Now this was necessary. In order to carry out God's plan so that we have a sacrifice. That we can use to establish a relationship with the Father, to have the sins that separate us from God forgiven. But it was also, I think, to give us an example to follow. As sheep living among the wolves, you might say. Let's finish in the book of Titus. In this epistle, the apostle Paul is giving guidance. To his young gentile convert. And I think his instructions are very useful to us today. In chapter 2 and verse 13 of the book of Titus, we are going to break into the middle of a thought here. Paul says, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us as a lamb, I might interject. That he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself his own special people zealous for good works. Now move on to chapter 3. And verse one. And Paul tells Titus to remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. In other words, To be A Lamb of God, just as our elder brother is.